Entertainment

Bulldozers threaten Beatles monument in Mongolia

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Tributes to the Beatles have sprung up worldwide, including at the famous Abbey Road studios in London.

By
Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

A statue of the Beatles in the capital city of Mongolia may be at risk because of construction at the site of the tribute, but protesters are asking officials to let it be and are looking for some help from city officials.

The statue of the iconic rock ’n’ roll group is located in Ulaanbaatar. It’s a bas-relief structure that was built to commemorate the transition of the former satellite of the Soviet Union to democracy in 1990, Reuters reported. The area is known as Beatles Square; the monument, erected in 2008, marks the site where Mongolians gathered to talk about banned Western pop music, Reuters reported.

“For a long time there were stories about construction on the land, but nobody wanted to believe it," said Tsoggerel Uyanga, a community organizer and senior partner at research group MAD Investment Solutions.

The music of groups like the Beatles, ABBA, and other Western pop groups helped launch the “Rock and Roll Communist Revolution” 30 years ago, Reuters said.

Authorities have defended the development as part of a "car-free street" project to build an underground shopping complex complete with street gardens.

A lawyer for Mongolia's National Construction Association said there were no plans to remove the Beatles statue, however.

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